Interdisciplinary Problem-Solving Project for the Science Classroom
Liliana Caughman
Students are assigned unique roles and work independently to solve a complex problem from the perspective of their role (i.e. sociologist, educator, historian, etc.) Students then work collaboratively to present their findings and action plan to the "tribal council".

Environmental Advocacy Project
Anita Harker, Whatcom Community College
This assignment requires that students research the historical context of an environmental issue within their own communities and apply different types of organizing/advocacy tactics for instigating social change.

Migration: An Empathy Exercise
Maureen Ryan, Western Washington University
Migration: An Empathy Exercise is a multi-step reflective exercise designed to build empathy and personal insight into processes of loss, change, and reconnection associated with the disruption of personal and cultural connections to landscape.

Investigating Local Food: Meet Your Washington Farmers
June Johnson Bube, Seattle University
This assignment sequence seeks to stimulate students' thinking and writing about food production in the western Washington bioregion through a series of activities combining readings, class discussion, fieldwork, and writing assignments. Collaborative work in and outside of class culminates in students' interviewing local farmers and vendors at farmers markets and writing a surprising informative essay.

What is the West?
Maureen Ryan, Western Washington University
What is the West? is a written reflective exercise, with associated readings and discussion, designed to 1) build insight into how personal experiences shape our perception of landscapes, 2) enhance knowledge of the geography and ecology of the American West, and 3) illuminate the role of water (or lack of water) in the natural and cultural history of the American West.

Using Reflection Activities to Deepen Student Engagement
Holly Hughes, Edmonds Community College
Reflection activities on service-learning related to environmental restoration.

Toxic Hygiene: How Safe Is Your Bathroom?
Danielle Gray, Whatcom Community College
Students learn about potential safety and health concerns of personal hygiene products. Students examine labels and advertisements of these projects and then engage in rhetorical and cultural analysis of these advertisements.

Building a Public Knowledge Base: The Wikicadia Node Assignment
Todd Lundberg, Cascadia Community College
The center of this sequence of assignments is a collaborative, "New Media" writing project that involves publishing to a wiki a synthesis of knowledge about how humans inhabit places. Writers work in groups with others interested in a common sub-topic and develop information related to local places that local audiences who are invited to join the wiki may use.

Where/How Do We Live: The Power of Ads and Sustainability
Arlene Plevin, Olympia College
This writing/thinking activity invites students to consider the power of advertisements and how they live in the world. Beginning with deconstructing ads, this activity has students appreciating the power of visual rhetoric and what strategies might be employed to persuade them. Students consider the cultural milieu of ads and the concepts of sustainability they promote (or don't).

Welcome to My Home
Matt Teorey, Peninsula College
Students are encouraged through writing and research activities to discover a greater sense of place and express their increased awareness of local ecosystems and cultural communities.